Onto post #8 of my Handmade Gift Challenge: fancy napkins!
For my sisters-in-law, I made reusable cloth napkins. These are meant to be “everyday” napkins to replace using paper napkins or paper towels, thus reducing waste, etc. Plus they are way prettier than paper towels. Way.
I started with 15-inch squares of cotton fabric that turned into 14-inch napkins. About. In general. They are all slightly different, I’m sure. You can get four napkins this size from one yard of fabric with a sizeable remnant leftover. You could even go a little larger, but you need to pre-wash your fabrics before you get started and that might shrink your fabric a bit.
There are many napkin tutorials out there and anyone who has sewn for half a second knows how to hem, so I won’t bother with a how-to.
This photo above shows how I did my corners. Not in a fancy mitered way, just in the basic fold-it-over way.
To emphasize the “everyday” aspect and to encourage my giftees not to spare them, I made a tag explaining such. Think you might make your own gifty napkins?
Download the tag here free! (For personal use only.)
I must say that while this is a very useful gift, they were not particularly exciting to make. The fun part was picking out fabrics, but after that, it was just cutting, ironing and a lot of hemming. It sounded like a great idea at first, but then it sort of felt like homework. (Could be because I ended up making 24 napkins in all = four of each print * six prints = two gifts of 12 napkins each.)
Don’t get me wrong, I like the way they turned out, but not exactly a challenging project.
But don’t let me discourage you! It’s a practical and eco-friendly gift that is sure to be appreciated well into the new year.
LOVE the tag!
Thanks, Jodi!
All cotton fabric? Ive always wanted to try this but wasn’t sure which fabric to use. How do they feel? Durable?
They are actually pretty soft! I just used the quilters type of cotton fabric. I suppose you could use anything you wanted as long as it is machine washable and isn’t super scratchy.
I can’t yet attest for long-term durability, but I don’t have any doubts. I’ve made plenty of other things with that type of fabric and haven’t had any issues.
Hi! I just found your blog via a Google search for “cloth napkins for everyday use”. I was planning to buy a set or two (I’m focusing on reducing our family’s waste right now) but after reading your awesome post, I think I will make my own! And thanks for sharing the tag– these would make very fun gifts!
Hi Jocelyn, thanks for dropping by!
If you get a good deal on fabric (sale, coupons, remnants), I think making your own is definitely cheaper! You could also shrink the dimensions a bit and squeeze a few more napkins out of one yard of fabric.